If you are interested in Kintyre ancestors,
you may want to join others with similar interests.
I sponsor a private page at MyFamily.com for anyone
interested in Kintyre people and places. Let me
know if you are interested and I'll have an
E-Mail sent inviting you to join us.
. E Mail
Click on letter, Harold A Ralston.

One of the most interesting indigenous Kintyre
surnames is Omey. Four hundred years ago there were
a number of surnames here with the Irish Gaelic
prefix "O". It seems Omey is the only one
to survive. The Obrolochans dropped the
"O" and finally became Brodies. By the
same process the Oloynachans became Langs. The
Odrains changed their names to Hawthorn and the
Macoshenoigs became McShannons, while some who went
to the Lowlands became plain Shannons. The Okaldies
of Machrihanish and Knockhanty give rise to the
Okellys who in due course became Kellys. What
became of the Ocolchans and the. Obrenans the
Ocholtans and the Ocoynes, the Odowans and the
Odimans. mentioned along with the Obrianns (as well
as Mcbrionns) in the 1636 list of tenants? None of
these latter names are even mentioned in
Black's "The Surnames of
Scotland."

The name Omey is believed to be from the Gaelic
Miadhaigh which means esteemed or honourable, the
"O" implying descent. Prior to the 17th
Century, it is only found in Kintyre. It is found
spelt Ofey, Omay Omey, O'May and a branch which
settled in Perthshire appears to have dropped the
prefix.

Prior to the 17th Century written evidence of
any sort is extremely scarce, especially in
relation to remoter parts like Kintyre but the name
occurs in the earliest Royal record of Kintyre
tenants, made on the instruction of King James IV
in 1505, where John Ofey is. noted as the occupier
of the four merkland of Dalnaeccleis (now Dalimore)
Crislag and Kilquhattan in Kilblaan Parish.

Andrew McKerral on whose work this article is
almost wholly based suggests that Dalnaeccleis and
Crislag (now Christlach) from their names were
probably church lands and this is particularly
interesting in view of the strong connection of the
family with the church both before and after the
Reformation.

In the rental of 1506 Gilchrist Ofey is shown as
joint occupier of the lands with John. Master
Duncan Omey was in 1531 appointed by King James V
to the benefice of Kilberry vacant on the death of
Sir Cornelius Omey, prebendary of Kilberry in
Knapdale. This, as Andrew McKerral points out,
cannot be the same Cornelius Omey who graduated at
St. Andrews in 1528 and who was holding the Rectory
of Kilblaan in 1560.

He suggested the following family tree (1)Sir
Cornelius died 1531. (2)Master Duncan, the
King's surgeon was his son. (3)Cornelius,
Rector of Kilblaan 1560 son of Duncan. (4)Duncan
who was granted a Charter of Kilcolmkill in 1622
being the son of Cornelius (3).

The unusual Christian name Cornelius persisted
in the family and one of that name described as a
sailor was admitted a burgess of Campbeltown on
12th October 1707 (on payment of £6 Scots as
against £3 charged to others.) The higher
payment probably indicates he was not resident in
the Burgh.

Master Duncan Omey or Omay whom McKerral
identifies as the one appointed to Kilberry in 1531
had been appointed principal surgeon to King James
V on 3rd July 1526 along with a gift of £40
Scots. The King gave other gifts including a black
satin gown, a quantity of red, velvet and a sum of
money for his wife's sister, Katherine Weir.
Weir appears to be an early, Kintyre surname as
there was a Gillicallum Weir in Borgadale in
1636.

In 1531 the King was making preparations for his
expedition to the Western Isles and he gave Master
Duncan £20 for the help given to him. In 1533
he awarded him the Customarship, that is, the right
to collect the customs dues at the Port of Perth
and three years later he received a gift of the
lands of Rednoch in Menteith. From this time on
Omays or Mays are found in Perthshire and several
of them were Protestant Ministers in the 17th
Century.

Master Duncan attended the Queen Mother,
Margaret Tudor (sister of Henry VIII) on her
deathbed and received from the King three months
later on 31st. December 1541 a letter thanking him
"for his gude and thoughful service done to
our soverane lord and to his derrest moder quhon
God Assoilye - off the gift of xxy markis money of
this realm to he to him yeirlie be our soverane
Lordis Comptrollare now, present and being for the
time of the reddiest of his Grace's customes of
the burgh of Perth during the said M. Duncan's
lifetime, his entrie of payment of the said twenty
markis yeirlie to begin at the fest of Martymas
last by past."

The surgeon seems to have died about 1577.
Andrew McKerral admits there is no direct proof
that he was a Kintyre man but feels as I do that
the facts as disclosed make any other supposition
unlikely.

In 1542 James Omey a priest was presented by the
Crown to the Rectory of Kilquhoman in Islay which
he held till 1547, He is described as son of the
deceased Duncan Omey whom McKerral supposes to have
been the surgeon and it is suggested he was a
brother of Cornelius who graduated B. A. at St.
Andrews in 1528.

Cornelius is described as a "dives" or
one who could pay his own fees without finding a
surety. In 1547 he was rector of Kildalton, 1550
rector of Kilberry and rural Dean of Kintyre. In
1555 he was practising as a notary and was a canon
of Lismore Cathedral. As late as 1577 he was
witness to a charter to Angus MacDonell of
Dunnyveg. He was rector of Kilblaan as early as
1554 but had died by 1580 when the King presented
Donald Campbell to Kilblaan, vacant by Cornelius
Omay's decease.

Duncan Omey or, as the English speaking scribe
wrote his name "of May" was tacksman of
the 3 merklands of Glendaharvie in 1596 and as such
appeared before the King's Lieutenant at
Lochhead in that year. He was probably the same as
the tacksman of Kilkivan and the two Ineans in 1605
and 1609 and possibly the same man who in 1622
received a charter of the lands of Kilcolmkill. The
charter states that the Omeys were native tenants
of these lands which would indicate that they had
been there long before 1622.

Before tracing the Kilcolmkill family over 200
years following the grant it may be remarked that
in the first detailed list of Kintyre tenants in
1636, there are no longer Omeys in Kilkivan but in
Colinlongart, Ballivenane and Dalsmirren appear
Evin Omey and Duncan Orney while Donald Omey
appears as one of the tenants of Conachan and again
one of the ten tenants of Kilchrist. Presumably it
was Duncan in Colinlongart who was an elder in
Southend in 1643. A later Duncan Omey was in
Colingart in 1710 when he was a member of the jury
at a Justiciary Court held in Campbeltown. Most of
the jury were local landowners. After this and
apart from Colinlongart I cannot trace any other
Omey tenants in the Argyll Estates in Kintyre
though McKerral states that the connection with
Kilkivan lasted for many years and that the Omeys
had a burial place there. James Omey was tacksman
of the teinds of Kilkivan Parish in 1635.

Duncan Omey was appointed by the Bishop of
Argyll to be minister of the Parish of Kilcolmkill
in 1611. He was also made Commissary of the
ecclesiastical court and agreed with the Bishop to
accept a fixed sum in exchange for the Court dues.
After 1617 Kilblaan too was included in his charge
which he held till 1640 when he demitted office on
account of old age and infirmity. Not long before
his retirement he became involved in national
affairs almost unwittingly.

In April 1638 the Marquis of Lorne (who was
virtually the head of the family since his father
had become a Catholic and fled to Spain) was called
to London by the King. He was so outspoken to
Charles I about the people's religious and
other grievances that they quarrelled. Lorne's
enemies hoped to profit and the Earl of Antrim, a
Macdonnell and kinsman of the expropriated
McDonalds of Islay and Kintyre, in particular hoped
to recover for himself the former McDonald lands.
He had married the widow of Charles' favourite,
the Duke of Buckingham and was in touch with the
King.

The earliest evidence of Antrim's intentions
comes in a formal statement made by the Southend
Minister to Lord Lorne, Sheriff of Argyll and
Justice General of Argyll and the Isles on 31st
July 1638. He stated that in the previous month the
illiterate MacDonald of Sanda had sent for him,
desiring him to read to him certain letters. One
was from Sir James Stewart, Sheriff of Bute (his
brother in law). It enclosed two others from
Archibald Stewart of Ballintoy (Antrim's factor
and a kinsman of Sir James) - one for Sanda and
another to be forwarded to Colkitto. Omey read the
letters to Sanda. They had been sent from London
earlier in the month. Antrim had told the King that
no MacDonald had signed the National Covenant. This
pleased the King for none who signed the Covenant
would ever get his favour. Charles told Antrim to
thank his MacDonald kinsmen while as for Lorne
"When he next comes to Court he will do you no
harm thereafter." Sanda had taken Omey further
into his confidence. The exiled Chiefs of the
O'Neill and O'Driscolls were to join in an
Irish rising as soon as the Civil War in Scotland
began. The Earl of Antrim would cross with an army
of McDonnells and all of Clan Donald would rise and
join him in a war against the Campbells to recover
"their old patrimonie and whatever more they
might." Ranald Angus Og MacDonald - a nephew
of Sir James and a grandson of old Angus of
Dunnyveg (whom Sir James had burned out of his
House of Askomil) was thought to have a good claim
to the Chieftainship of Clan lain Mor.

No doubt this information made a considerable
contribution to Lorne's decision to throw in
his lot with the Covenanters at the momentous
Glasgow Assembly later in the year. He had further
information from sympathisers at Court and as a
result summoned the barons and gentlemen of Argyll
and drew up plans for the defence of the shire. He
bought a frigate and other arms in Holland and
constructed a fortified camp at Lochhead under the
distinguished soldier, Sir Duncan Campbell of
Auchinbreck. The fortifications are remembered in
the place names Fort Argyll and Trench Point.

Donald Omey who graduated M. A. at Glasgow
University in 1622 is said to have been a brother
of Duncan, the Southend Minister. In 1624 he was
appointed to Ardnamurchan where an armed man sent
by Clanranald broke up his Church service ordering
him to leave the Parish and "have him hame if
he valued his life." He had to leave and was
later appointed to Kingarth in Bute and Kilkerran
in Kintyre. The bishop described him as "ane
learned modest and good teacher." In 1632 he
was granted a Charter by the Earl of Argyll for a
feu in the Main Street of Campbeltown. The Charter,
perhaps uniquely for a minister, allowed him to
market a tun (232 gallons) of wine yearly and to
sell all kinds of merchandise in Lochhead and all
the bounds of Kintyre.

He attended the first meeting of the Synod of
Argyll in 1634 but was dead by October 1640, when
the Synod discussed arrangements for his widow and
children. He had two sons, James, from whom the
later Kilcolmkill Omeys were descended, and Duncan
who was one of those recommended by the Synod in
1648 to be educated by the Presbytery for the
Ministry. James and his wife were threatened with
excommunication in 1653 for
"obstinacie."

John Omey An M.A. of Glasgow was
excommunicated by the Synod in 1646 for consorting
with the rebels i.e. the army under the command of
Major General Alastair Mac Colla MacDonald who were
acting in support of the Royal interest against the
Covenanters and the Campbells. He was in good
company with the heads of many old Kintyre
families, and the other Argyllshire chieftains.

The Kilcolumkill Omeys were as follows:-

I. Duncan Omey who may have been the
father of the two ministers, Duncan of Kilcolmkill
and Donald of Kilkerran. His title runs as follows:
"Sasine of the 20/- land of Kilcolumkill in
the Parish of Eikollumkill and Lordship of Kintyre
given by Colin Stirling burgess of Rothesay as
baillie to Duncan Omey native tenant of said land
on a charter thereof by Andrew, Bishop of Argyll
with consent from the Dean and Chapter but
reserving 4 acres of glebe to the Minister of
Kilcolumkill." Andrew McKerral points out some
interesting points about this charter. Part of the
revenues of Kilcolumkill had been erected into a
prebend to support a canonry in Lismore and
McKerral suggests this is why the consent of the
Chapter was needed. The mistake, a common one, was
made of substituting in the deed Icolumkill (i.e.
Iona) for Kilcolumkill. A similar mistake a century
later had resulted in these lands going wrongly to
Iona. The witness es to the, Sasine included Donald
Omey indweller in Kilcolumkill. The description of
native tenant implies that the Omeys had been there
for at least 81 years, the equivalent of three
generations - described as a time beyond the memory
of man. The charter subject to the same reservation
of Glebe Land was confirmed by King Charles 1 on
6th July 1635.

II. James Omey who succeeded Duncan
appears to have been a grandson and the son of Rev.
Donald Omey, Minister of Kilkerran. He granted a
Bond in which he is described as "elder in
Kill," for 300 marks in favour of George Bruce
in Lochheid on 23rd May 1659. If he was the same
James who was threatened with excommunication in
1653 he must have made a swift reformation.

III. James Omey doubtless the son of the
previous James was granted a Charter of the lands
of Kilcolumkill in 1682. Bishops had been abolished
in 1638 and the superiority of the lands passed to
the Argyll who apparently tore up the earlier
Bishop's charter because in 1669 he let the
lands to the Laird of Ralston with a reservation
however to James Omey (probably the elder) during
his lifetime. Argyll himself was forfeited in 1681
and presumably the restored Bishop again claimed
the Superiority.

It is of interest that in the Kelburne
correspondence there is a 'letter dated at
Machribeg 14th November 1692 from W. Hamilton,
probably a subfactor, to Boyle of Kelburne stating
-

"Besyd Insherall that John McVicar of
Carrine is infeft in there is one James Omey
infeft in the 20s. land of Kilcolumkill and
Marksharne (McEachran) in the 2 merkland of
Kilblan and ane Farquhar Mackay in a merkland of
Crossibeg. They have set their lands already to
tenants and will presently fall a ploughing of
them. They say they have a warrant from the
Bishop. Hamilton hopes he need not entreat
Kelburne 'to prevent their daring in wrongin
Ralston's interest and ruining the
tenant' which unless Kelburne interferes
cannot be prevented."

It is all rather strange in that Ralston, like
Argyll, was a Covenanter and bitterly opposed to
the Stuarts and to Bishops. Kelburne and his
servants were appointed by the Stewart Marquis of
Athole who was as bitterly opposed to the
Covenanters and the Campbells.

I mentioned earlier that in 1636 there had been
Omeys in Colinlongart. Their relationship to the
Keil family is confirmed by the terms of the
Bishop's Charter of 1692. It was granted by
Hector, Bishop of Argyll, to James Omey in
Collinlongart his heirs and assignes etc. of all
and haill the 20 shilling land of Kilcolumkill
lying in the Parish of Kilcolumkill, Lordship of
Kintyre and Sheriffdom of Argyle. To be holden of
the said Bishop for payment of 40 shillings Scots
at Whitsunday and Martinmass proportionally and
doubling the feu duty the first year of the entry
of every heir."

It may be remarked that the feu duty has double
in comparison with the 1635 Charter and the
reservation of the glebe land is not repeated. This
led to a litigation in the following century. The
glebe land was the flat area in front of the old
Keil School. James Omey Junior's wife was
Barbara MacAllester and in 1686 she was given a
liferent of half of Kilcolumkill.

IV. Duncan Omey was probably the son of
James Junior. He married Mary McNabb and the
marriage contract is dated 15th September 1725.
Following on this contract she was seised on 12th
July 1749 in a yearly annuity of 100 merks Scots to
be paid all the days of her, life after the decease
of her husband. In 1748 Duncan was served heir to a
cousin James Omey in Collinlongart which marks the
end of the male line there. In 1754 he sold the
Lochheid feu granted in 1632 to his great
grandfather the Rev. Donald Omey, to Cambell of
Skipness and in 1765 he made up title as heir to
the Rev. Donald. Duncan Omey and Mary McNabb had
three sons, James, Archibald and John. Their only
daughter Isobel married John Pickan, ships
carpenter in Campbeltown. Archibald became a
shipmaster in Greenock.

V. James Omey the eldest son of Duncan
became infeft on a charter of Confirmation by the
Duke of Argyll in the 20/- lands of Kilcolmkill
reserving his father's liferent and a power to
the Duke to abrogate the Charter without James'
consent. It appears that James died before his
father. He left a son Archibald.

VI. Archibald Omey got a sasine on 29th
December 1772 in which he is described as grandson
of Duncan Omey of Kilcolumkill and only surviving
of the deceased James Omey, Duncan's eldest
son. It provides that Archibald shall pay £10
to Archibald Omey, Duncan's eldest surviving
son, £10 to John his youngest son and £40
to Isabel, his daughter. A witness was Peter
Stewart, Writer in Campbeltown. After becoming
Provost, this Peter Stewart emigrated to Canada
where he became Lord Chief Justice of Prince Edward
Island. Duncan appears to have been alive when this
sasine was taken but he died before 1778 when a
fresh sasine was taken on a Precept of Clare
Contract. In 1778 Archibald granted a Bond for
£260 to the Relief Kirk in Campbeltown on
which he paid interest of £13 per annum. He
died before 1781 and was succeeded by his cousin
Archibald, son of the Greenock Shipmaster, who was
impliedly dead by then.

VII. Archibald Omey. He died on September
6 1786 when the estate passed to his brother.

VIII. Samuel Omey remained proprietor
till 1819 when he sold the estate to Dr. Colin
McLarty who had made a fortune in the West Indies.
He went to live in Edinburgh and was still alive in
1835 but nothing further has been heard of the
direct line.

A few other Omeys have been noted:

John Omey, no doubt the youngest son of the
Fourth Laird joined the Masonic Lodge in
Campbeltown in 1777. Archibald McNabb and James
McNabb, perhaps cousins, entered in 1778.

Donald Omey appears in a list of inhabitants of
Campbeltown in 1685 described as Nocholas Todd his
man." Neill Omey appears in the same list.

Duncan Omey was recorded as a fencible man in
the Drum and Ballergies in 1692. Mary Omey, wife of
Farquhar McIlchere who died in 1695 is commemorated
on a Kilkerran tombstone.

Patrick Omey was one of the tenants of
Kilcolumkill, Gartvaich and Lepenstra in the same
year, and Hew Omey was in Dalbhradden and the two
Gartlochans.

Duncan Omey is shown as in Collinlongart in
1692.

Captain Omey, Master of the Jean is mentioned in
1806 in a letter from Alexander Shannon, Merchant
in Greenock.

§

Citizens who adopt a cynical attitude to the
medical profession but believe in heredity may find
food for thought (in relation to the Royal Surgeon
of King James V) that amonst the most prominent
Omeys (or O'May as they now spell it ) left in
Kintyre are a butcher and a plumber.

§

This article is founded entirely on a Manuscript
of the late Andrew McKerral in the Society's
Library, to whom any credit should be given. The
original article contains references to the
sources. I am indebted for the information about
the Revd Donald Omey to the recently published
"Alasdair Mac' Colla" by Dr. David
Stevenson of Aberdeen University, a volume of great
interest to anyone interested in the history of
Kintyre.

§

SASINE: is from the same root as Seizing. It is
taking possession of the land when the title is
completed.
INFEFT: is from the same root as feu and fief. It
is used when the title to the land is completed.
PRECEPT OF CLARE CONSTAT: is a deed or writ by
which a Feudal Superior confirms his vassel's
successors on the lands.

A Forgotten Campbeltown
A. I. B. Stewart

In a previous number we saw that Flora
MacDonald, who as every Campbeltown schoolboy
knows, sailed from Campbeltown for Cape Fear in
1774 was for a time in North Carolina where many
from Scotland had settled in the region of the Cape
Fear River, in the eighteenth century. A town
formerly called Campbeltown was renamed
Fayetteville in the aftermath of the American War
of Independence after a hero of the time, the
Marquis de Lafayette who had aided the Americans
against the British.

From 1739 onwards, the upper Cape Fear River had
been settled by Highlanders, many from Kintyre and
the Argyllshire islands. In 1756 the Reverend Hugh
McAden on a journey from distant Pennsylvannia
found that these Highlanders had no pastor, and he
persuaded James Campbell, because of his ability as
a Gaelic preacher, to settle among them. He did so
willingly and soon founded three churches in the
vicinity of the modern Fayetteville. James Campbell
was licensed by the Presbytery of Kintyre and
shortly afterwards emigrated to Pennsylvannia.

Opposite the church of Old Bluff, white painted
and wooden, some fourteen miles from Fayetteville,
stands an obelisk inscribed:

Rev. James Campbell, a native of Campbeltown,
Argyleshire, Scotland, rests near this spot. He
died in 1780 in the 75th year lf his age and the
50th year of his ministry. He was a wise and pure
patriot, a faithful defender of the principles of
the Presbyterian Church, a zealous preacher of
the Gospel, a devout and humble Christian. The
churches which he founded and the Presbytery in
the bounds of which he laboured 22 years have
erected this monument to honour his name and
perpetuate his memory. Bluff, Long Street and
Barbecue Churches were organised by Rev. James
Campbell, October 18th 1758. Hector Duncan
McNeill, Ferquhard Campbell and Alexander
McAlister were the earliest elders of the Bluff
Church. Malcolm Smith, Duncan Ray and Archibald
McKay were the earliest elders of Long Street
Church and Gilbert Clark, Daniel Carneron and
Archibald Buie were the earliest elders of
Barbecue Church. A little bronze plate bearing a
Gaelic inscription has been added which may be
roughly translated as "Let us not forget the
deeds of our ancestors."

This worthy minister is not buried in the
peaceful kirkyard but in a lonely spot on his 200
acre farm across the river. Tradition has it the
flooded river prevented a crossing for the
burial.

In his later years Mr. Campbell was assisted by
the Rev. John MacLeod and the Old Bluff
Church's most prized possessions are two
beautiful sterling silver communion cups inscribed
"To the Presbyterian Congregation in
Cumberland County N.C. under the care of Rev. John
MacLeod."

On the outbreak of the American Revolution most
of the Highlanders, many of whom had suffered
greatly in the '45 supported King George. Mr.
Campbell took the American side and this move was
so unpopular with the majority of his flock that he
had to leave the district. Mr. MacLeod sided with
the loyal Highlanders who were almost immediately
routed. Mr. MacLeod, like Flora MacDonald's
husband, son and, son-in-law, was imprisoned. Mr.
Campbell's intervention secured his release. He
took ship, to Scotland, but it is believed, he was
lost on the voyage. When things quietened down, Mr.
Campbell returned to live and die surrounded by his
flock.

The beautiful kirkyard at Bluff is still neatly
maintained although the Church is only occasionally
used for weddings, and contains the graves of many
Kintyreans. Among these notably are "
Duncan McNeill, the son of Neill McNeill of
Kintyre, Scotland, the pioneer and friend of the
Scottish emigration to the Cape Fear Region, was
born in Kintyre, Scotland, in 1728 and died near
Bluff October 2, 1791, leaving to his children the
legacy of an honest and upright character. This
tribute of filial affection to the memory of a
venerated father is erected by his youngest son
Duncan." It also commemorates "Loveday,
the wife of Duncan McNeill of the Bluff and
daughter of Rev. James Campbell, died October 22
1786 aged 33 years. Her children that survived her
were Isabella, Grisella, James and infant son
Duncan."

----

Ignorance of conditions in remote corners of the
world is not suffered by a generation brought up
on T.V., films, and illustrated books. It was
different in the eighteenth century when a large
part of North Carolina was settled by immigrants
from Argyll. A highland woman landing at
Willington was delighted to hear two men on the
wharf talking in Gaelic. She approaohed them and
finding they were negroes felt that her worst
forebodings of the Southern climate were
justified. She cried in horror, "A Dianan
fras am fas sinn vile mar sin?" - Oh God of
mercy are we all going to turn black like that?

In the History of Kintyre" by Peter
MacIntosh (1786-1876) published in 1861, several
vague references are made concerning a musician and
poet called William McMurchy. According to
MacIntyre's account McMurchy was one of the
pipers to MacDonald of Largie in 1145. Largie
raised his men and set out to join the Prince but
the majority of the Kintyre proprietors. were
supporters of the Government side and Largie was
persuaded to change his mind and sent his men with
the rest to Inveraray. The account relates how when
the Kintyre party reached Inveraray,
MacDonald's pipers played alternately. McMurchy
played "The Campbells are Coming,'"
but the Duke of Argyle being in the company of
other gentlemen at the time took no notice of the
tune. However when McLeolan (Largie's other
piper) played "Fir Chinntire" the Duke
immediately recognised it and said to the gentlemen
present "'Come we must go and welcome the
Kintyre men." · McMurchy was grieved that
the Duke did not take notice of him and that he had
not played "Fir Chinntire."

He is mentioned again by MacIntosh who relates
how William McMurchy, who lived at Largieside about
a century ago was a superior piper and poet, and
how he was visited by a learned gentleman who came
in disguise to test McMurchy's power of poetry,
this gentleman being himself a poet. McMurchy
received him in a respectful manner and entertained
him with a few tunes on his pipes. The gentleman
was musing over a verse of poetry, and observing
some scones of bread, toasting over the fire, got
up hurriedly and making for the door uttered the
following:-

"Stop man give ear to reason, bad is the
story that has no foundation. My wife is coming
from Chil with a load of butter on her
back."

The gentleman finding that he had met his match
returned and a friendly conversation took place
till McMurchy's wife came home with the butter.
The gentleman partook of the toasted bread and
butter and came away wondering that such a man as
McMurphy could be found in such a sequestered
spot.

A similar verse and story are also attributed to
one of the Rankin family of pipers on Mull. Given
Gigha's reputation for dairy products and that
anyone returning from Cill on Gigha by ferry would
be quite visible from Largieside, the evidence for
authorship would seem to tilt in McMurchy's
favour. Similar versions of these incidents
involving McMurchy are found in
"Glencreggan" by Cuthbert Bede (Edward
Bradley). These were probably obtained from Peter
Mac Intosh who was one of Bradley's
informants.

The Rev. John Smith of Campbeltown in a letter
written in 1802 quoted in the Highland Society
Report on Ossian in 1805 says that an old Gaelic
poem and a collection of proverbs had been got
about 1780 by him from Captain Alexander Campbell,
then Chamberlain of Kintyre, who had them from
William McMurchy, a musician and an amateur of
ancient poetry. The poem survives in the Stewart
Collection and a case has been made based on the
internal evidence of the poem that at the time of
composition, somewhere between 1750-1768, McMurchy
had enlisted in the army and was serving overseas,
in an area where French was spoken.(1)
The date is further narrowed to around 1761 with
the probability that he was serving with either the
77th Regiment - Montgomery's Highlanders raised
in 1757 and disbanded 1763, or in the 100th
Regiment commanded by Major Colin Campbell of
Kilberry, raised in 1761, and disbanded 1763.

It may be significant that Alexander Campbell,
appointed Chamberlain and Bailie of North and South
Kintyre by the Duke of Argyle on 11th November 1767
was a Lieutenant, late of the 77th Regiment of
Foot, having engaged as an ensign in an additional
company of Montgomery's Highlanders in 1759 and
reaching a position as Adjutant by August 1763.
Montgomery's Highlanders were credited with
over thirty pipers and drummers and a set of
miniature pipes bearing the inscription "1st
Highland Battn Jan 4 1757 Hon ColI Montgomery"
were still in existence in 1937.

Further information about McMurchy can be found
in the correspondence of the Highland Society about
the beginning of the 19th Century. The Society was
still being influenced by the ripples following
Macpherson and the Ossian controversy and through
the offices of Sir John Sinclair were trying to
trace old Gaelic Manuscripts containing Ossianic
verse. The Society had heard of McMurchy
manuscripts and dispatched several letters in an
attempt to trace them. From the replies to this
correspondence it would seem that William was the
oldest of three brothers and died about 1778, the
second brother James was described at the time of
the correspondence as having died a considerable
time since, and the youngest brother, Neil, died in
1807. William is described as a musician in
Campbeltown, a remarkable writer of ancient poetry
and of being in possession of a Gaelic manuscript
collection. After his death his collection passed
to his brother Neil, who was also said to have a
manuscript collection. Neil appears to have been
schoolmaster at Whitehouse in the Parish of
Kilcalmonel from 1766 to 1779, before becoming a
weaver in Paisley. Neil passed the manuscripts to a
grandson of William. When the remainder of the
manuscripts were recovered for the Highland Society
through the offices of Neil's son James, a
Paisley manufacturer, James expressed his
disappointment since he thought that there should
have been a great many more of them. One reply in
particular, dated 20 November 1808 at Limecraigs,
from Duncan Stewart of Glenbuckie, who was by then
Argyle's Chamberlain in Kintyre, contains the
interesting comment "The eldest of them (the
McMurchy brothers) William who was a great genius
put all the pibroch and many highland airs to
music." This would imply that William was one
of the earliest notators of Piobaireachd music.

McMurchy's surviving manuscripts are now in
the National Library of Scotland. They do not
contain any music but consist mostly of poems,
including many of William's own, and proverbs.
Many of the poems concern music, and include two of
particular interest to pipers. They are Moladh no
pioba by lain MacAilein and Ascaoin Molaidh na
Pioba by Lachlan MacLean. There is also a satire on
McMurchy composed by a merchant called Bostain
MacCairbe in which he is described as a piper, a
fiddler, a harper, a tailor and schoolmaster as
well as a bard, and a man who according to his
reviler was enjoying undeservedly the confidence of
the Laird of Largie. Among the miscellaneous
material McMurchy includes are: the dimensions of a
harp, a large low headed wire strung Celtic harp
apparently similar in size and shape to the
so-called "O'Carolan" harp in the
museum in Dublin, a short poem in English on the
death of Handel (d. 1759) and a rather potent
medical recipe for an unspecified ailment.

In the years following the '45 Rebellion the
position of a professional piper would have become
precarious leading possibly to the circumstances
causing McMurchy's enlistment in the army:

With looking back on my folly
Full of grief and of horror
That I sold my freedom
My family and my peace.
Heavy is this yoke on my neck
It is beyond my power to endure it
oooooooooo. (one line missing)
The whip of bondage wounding me
My tender children and my partner
Without my making provision for their shelter

Driven to homeless destitution
That is the pang that pierced me through and
through
It is not guile nor trickery
On the part of gentle or simple
But poverty and hardship
That drove me into the net
And the thought that I could support
With my earnings my dear ones.
Or never had I left them
In the charge of the country.

(Translation taken from a poem in the Stewart
Collection.)

In the paper just quoted it is suggested that
McMurchy was about 21 years old at the time of the
"45 and in his thirties at the time of his
enlistment.

William McMurchy was probably born around 1700.
It has been suggested, based on a similarity of
Gaelic script, that he may have been a pupil of
Hugh McLean, a schoolmaster of Kilkenzie in Kintyre
circa 1699 (2). McMurchy is a common name in
Kintyre but the only family using the name William
that I have encountered about that period seem to
be at Auchaleck near Campbeltown around 1669-71.
Unfortunately, the Parish registers for Kintyre are
not complete for that period, but that for
Campbeltown parish commences in 1659 for Births,
and 1681 for Marriages. The first William McMurchy
noted was a marriage on 14th March 1728 to Agnes
Robertson who subsequently gave birth to a daughter
Ann on 29 December 1728. There were either no
further children, which seems unlikely, or the
family had removed to another parish as they do not
feature again in the births register. The only
other William McMurchys to feature in Campbeltown
parish register are both marriages in 1765 and
1769.(3)

There is an ambiguous entry in the Campbeltown
Kirk accounts. Under the date 1769 is listed
"William McMurchy musitioner dead 12
shillings." The list consists of debt vouchers
to the Kirk passed over to the new treasurer in
1782 and the entry confirms that William died some
time between incurring the debt in 1782 and the
balance sheet of 1782. It is tempting to suggest on
available evidence that McMurchy could be
identified with the William married in 1728 in the
Campbeltown; parish and he subsequently moved. to
serve his Patron Macdonald of Largie. This
assumption would place William's age around 50
at the time of enlistment in the army, an age for
which there are precedents, as a musician and poet,
his position as a soldier would have been
relatively privileged.

From the evidence to date the picture of William
McMurchy which emerges is that of a professional
musician, a literate Gaelic poet and a collector
and recorder of poetry and probably music.

The Kintyre Antiquarian & Natural History
Society was founded in 1921 and exists to promote
the history, archaeology and natural history of the
peninsula.
It organises monthly lectures in Campbeltown -
from October to April, annually - and has published
its journal, 'The Kintyre Magazine', twice
a year since 1977, in addition to a range of books
on diverse subjects relating to Kintyre.